Title: Playing With Dragon Fire

Source: Focus on the Family's Breakaway, August, 1994; posted as a text file to rec.games.frp.misc on April 8th, 1995 by Jeff Freeman.

Read my rebuttal to this article (at the bottom of the page)

NOTICE: The following material is copyrighted as indicated in the body of text.  It has been posted to this web page for archival purposes, and in doing so, no claim of authorship is expressed or implied, nor is a profit being made from the use of the material.

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
From: jeff.freeman@whytel.com
Subject: Playing with Dragon Fire
X-Mailer: TBBS/PIMP v3.34
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 95 01:16:59 -0600

[Breakaway is a magazine for teen boys published by Focus on the Family]
[Focus on the Family is "Dedicated to the preservation of the home"
James C. Dobson, PhD, President]

A True Story by Manny Koehler
PLAYING WITH DRAGON FIRE
...and trapped by a "hot game" that was going to leave us burned
1994 August Breakaway

Photo's by Ron Nickel
[picture of 3 gamers with 15-20 "tea-lights" (little candles) surrounding a mass of those cardboard mini's that come with the
great big D&D boxed set.]

Dave, my buddy, looked kind of faint.  Stan, my other friend, squirmed around like he had to go to the bathroom. For a couple of
guys supposedly having fun, they sure seemed upset.

"Please, pleeeease don't peg out on me, Dude," Dave moaned, almost too late.

Belvar, Last of the Netherfeld Six, was close to death. Smelt, the Red Dragon of Wyvern Creep, had scorched him three times, scoring
heavy-duty damage.  One more bad roll and Belvar would be cooked meat.

Dave squeezed shut his eyes and rolled.  The die bounced wildly on the hard table, taking forever to stop.  *Two*.

"Oh, no.  Oh, sick!" Stan shook his head in disgust.

"What?" Dave said, frantically opening his eyes.  "What happened?!"

He focused on the number with anguish.  "No way!" he said. "It can't be."  Dave was desperate, but I didn't bat an eye.

"Belvar," I announced, "has breathed his last."

I was the dungeon master in a role-playing game that had been going for nearly 11 hours.  Though it was now 5 am, we would keep going
until 7 the next night. We were tired ... shaken ... but driven by a monster that controlled us.  And we were the last to know it.

CAGED WITH A DRAGON
Before that time, I'd been heavily involved in my church's youth group.  Many of the younger teens respected me, and I was doing a
lot of good things for God that really counted. But when I got involved in fantasy games, I messed up--big time.

A guy in my senior high algebra class got me started by lending me a few rule books.  I studied them like crazy, hardly able to learn
fast enough. Everything else in my life took a backseat.

The books described dozens of different characters a player could be:  monks, paladins, dwarfs, elves, clerics, magicians.

I read about cool-sounding items like weapons, traps, gold, jewelry, maps and potions.  And I was amazed by the gruesome details for
hundreds of monsters: golems, ghouls, shadows, wraiths, furies, demons.

I learned that my characters could do anything they wanted when they encountered a monster.  They could talk to it, barter with it,
capture it, cast a magic spell on it, rob it and even kill it with a smile--as long as they didn't get killed first.

Soon, I was hooked ... and headed for trouble.

SLAYED IN BATTLE
I eventually pulled my buddies, Stan and Dave, into the "fun".  They caught on fast.  After school and on weekends, we'd retreat to the
basement of my house. Then we'd pull out exotic maps and spell books and escape to a medieval land of castles and dungeons.

During our marathon games, we'd explore every crevice and sinkhole of our fantasy world.  We'd barely finish one adventure before
slashing our way into another.

Much of the game activity centered on killing.  The more our characters killed others, the more experienced and powerful they
became.  We had no idea how warped our minds had become.

On one occasion, we fought a powerful, evil queen.  We cast a spell of levitation on her, causing her to float helplessly to the
ceiling.  Then, as we laughed our heads off, we imagined ourselves pumping her full of arrows.

When we finally decided she was dead, I felt sort of lousy inside--just as I had when my own characters would die.

And that was a strange thing about the game.  While we enjoyed killing anyone (or anything) that crossed our paths, our emotions
always took major nose dives when our own guys bit the dust.

I'll never forget when my absolute favorite character, a sword bearer named Balic, died in a battle against a giant scorpion.  It
took me two days to get over it.

As crazy as it may sound, I'd even heard of other teenagers "taking the final crash"--committing suicide--for the same reason.

THE RESCUE
Soon I no longer cared about my other friends at school. (Hey, I didn't have time for them.)  What's more, my family life was a
washout.  I'd eat supper at my desk while studying monster manuals.

I hadn't read my Bible in weeks--something I actually used to enjoy. And I certainly wasn't doing any homework.  It was way more fun
drawing dungeons.

The fact is I had turned into a social and spiritual zombie. But that's when it happened.

The day after we played for 25 hours straight, God's gentle voice got my attention.  He began to impress upon my heart the ugliness of
the game--and how it was warping my values. He made me miserable and I didn't like it.

I fought what I knew he was asking me to do (give up the obsession). I tried to enjoy the game in spite of God.

The fight lasted four days.  But during that time, our loving Lord was good to me.  Even though I didn't want to listen, He got his
point across.

ONE LAST FIGHT
The dreaded day finally arrived.  I packed up the game books, stuck them in a bag and began a hard walk to the trash.

*Dave and Stan might not understand, but God does*, I told myself. Then, I stood over the can and ripped every page into microscopic
particles.  I didn't want to give myself a chance to change my stupid mind.

I went back to my room, feeling kind of queasy from the withdrawals. But I knew I'd done the right thing.  God told me so, way down deep.

I wish I could say the game ends there, but I can't.  I gave in to one more ugly encounter.

Years later--when I became a cool, collected, mature adult--I bought my first computer.  That's when I discovered it.

One day during a trip to the computer section at Wal-Mart, I noticed a copy of Dungeons & Dragons on a shelf.  I stared for a long
time--my first mistake. You can guess my second.

I bought it, took it home and loaded it up.  I plunged back into another long session.  It was great!  Fast, realistic--with just as
much killing as ever.

And like the first time so many years earlier, I traded in my Bible for the game's rule book, trying to shut out the voice of Someone
who loved me.  Then, somewhere in the middle of the "fun", I came back to my senses--and got back on my knees.

*Lord, what have I done?*  I prayed.  *I'm sorry for turning my back on You-- again.  Give me the strength to resist this deception from
the Devil ... and to keep my eyes on You.*

And again, I made a hard trip to the garbage can.  This time, I used a match. As I watched the diskette melt, I couldn't help but feel
like it was a waste. I'd spent good money for that thing!

*So what?*  God impressed upon my heart.  That's when I smiled.  It *was* finally over.

Yes, getting occultic role-playing stuff out of my life was the right thing to do.  And that's exactly where the game ends--for
good!

[SIDEBAR-ONE]
HOW TO DETECT DRAGONBREATH
Unsure about a particular fantasy game?  Then sniff around and ask yourself some hard questions.  (If the answer to any of these is
yes, then LEAVE IT ON THE SHELF!)
    @  Are you asked to cast spells, use witchcraft or align yourself with evil spirits and New Age-believing "heroes" who have
supernatural powers?
    @  Does the game make you dwell on evil things instead of good (see Philippians 4:8)?
    @  Is the game filled with violence, killing and "buckets of blood"?
    @  Are characters blown away as casually as you'd buy a stick of gum, leaving players with the impression that life isn't worth much?
    @  Will the game tend to take too much time away from other, more important activities?

[SIDEBAR-TWO]
AWESOME ALTERNATIVES
Keep in mind that not all fantasy-type games, books or videos are harmful. Stop by your local Christian bookstore and take a peek at
some of these cool resources.
    @  THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (a seven-book series) by C.S. Lewis.
    @  DRAGONRAID--an intricate adventure game (previously available from *Breakaway*) that helps you memorize Scripture and learn to
engage in spiritual battle.
    @  DRAGON KING TRILOGY (a three-book series) by Stephen Lawhead.
    @  the videos THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE, PRINCE CASPIAN and THE SILVER CHAIR, from Vestron Video, based on the books by C.S.
Lewis

--END

Please direct your comments to:

    James C. Dobson, PhD, President
    FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
    Colorado Springs, CO  80995

Remember to reference the article "Playing with Dragon Fire" by Manny Koehler from the August, 1994 issue of *Breakaway*.

MY REBUTTAL, Where Bill's two cents are freely dispensed.

4/2/99: Rebuttal to Manny Koehler's "Playing With Dragon Fire"

Manny Koehler is a pretty good writer.  Not only does he pepper his language with "hip" slang to aid the reader in acheiving the frame of mind of a troubled teenager, he also does a passable job of making us believe he has a little bit of gaming experience.  Whether he does or not remains to be seen.

What Koehler doesn't realize is that his account of his gaming adventures, if it is true, says a lot more about himself and his friends than it does about their choice of entertainment. 

A role-playing game is much more of a canvas than it is a finished work; the players and game master decide the course of events more than any rulebook can.  Once the characters are made and the adventure begun, the path of the story is entirely up to the players.  If a game has become too violent and bloody, it is because the players, game master, or both have permitted it.

I can't help but draw a anecdote from my own gaming experience here: one of my most memorable campaigns as a referee was based on the AD&D Dark Sun world, a setting that has been criticized by many for being too combat-oriented, and thus a favorite of power-gamers and warmongers.  We rose above the reputation of the setting, however, since we weren't interested in mindless violence.   The result was a story filled with politics and intrigue, with the players constantly wondering who was pulling their strings, and those of everyone they met.   Even the party's gladiator, a character whose occupation is based on acts of violence, saw very little combat, and instead was embroiled in a bidding war over his services.

No role-playing game forces you to act out graphic scenes of violence.  No gaming manual told Koehler and his friends to levitate a queen and then fill her with arrows.  They came up with that idea all on their own. 

Maybe that's what Koehler is really so upset about.
 
 

    Here's the part where I pick apart the entire article bit by bit:

[picture of 3 gamers with 15-20 "tea-lights" (little candles)
surrounding a mass of those cardboard mini's that come with the
great big D&D boxed set.]

I have yet to play an RPG that directly involves the lighting of candles.  Yet ever since Mazes & Monsters graced our televisions, everyone seems to think that RPGs are played in darkened rooms with great amounts of pomp and circumstance.  Organizations such as Focus on the Family and The 700 Club like to portray games with lots of candles and dry ice.   It's not true.  While I must admit to using candlelight for mood on a couple of occasions, it was only for brief periods of time, and I've never gone to the length of renting a dry ice machine.  Candlelight is difficult to read by, and dangerous when there is a lot of paper around (two situations that are common when gaming).

Dave, my buddy, looked kind of faint.  Stan, my other friend,
squirmed around like he had to go to the bathroom. For a couple of
guys supposedly having fun, they sure seemed upset.

Sounds like a bunch of guys at a Super Bowl party to me.   Or any group of people who are taking a leisure activity far too seriously.

I was the dungeon master in a role-playing game that had been going
for nearly 11 hours.  Though it was now 5 am, we would keep going
until 7 the next night. We were tired ... shaken ... but driven by a
monster that controlled us.  And we were the last to know it.

Anything performed for 25 hours straight is unhealthy: role-playing, watching television, needlepoint... It is more of a matter of personal discipline than anything else.  Lacking that discipline will cause you to do things like spend all night playing a game.  If these were teens, as we are led to believe, I would like to know where their parents were while this was going on, and why they didn't do anything about it.

Before that time, I'd been heavily involved in my church's youth
group.  Many of the younger teens respected me, and I was doing a
lot of good things for God that really counted. But when I got
involved in fantasy games, I messed up--big time.

I can't help but chuckle at the way Koehler writes this story as if he's telling the world how he kicked alcohol, drugs, or a pornography addiction.   He's talking about a game here, folks... try not to forget that.

I learned that my characters could do anything they wanted when they
encountered a monster.  They could talk to it, barter with it,
capture it, cast a magic spell on it, rob it and even kill it with a
smile--as long as they didn't get killed first.

It is interesting, then, that he should choose the path of violence every time.  It sounds like much more of a personal problem to me.

Much of the game activity centered on killing.  The more our
characters killed others, the more experienced and powerful they
became.  We had no idea how warped our minds had become.

Or were, to start with.

On one occasion, we fought a powerful, evil queen.   We cast a spell
of levitation on her, causing her to float helplessly to the
ceiling.  Then, as we laughed our heads off, we imagined ourselves
pumping her full of arrows.

I mention this earlier, but it bears repeating: this was an action performed by Koehler and his friends.  No rulebook told them to do this.   It was an act of imaginary sadism dreamed up by no one else but the players themselves.

As crazy as it may sound, I'd even heard of other teenagers "taking
the final crash"--committing suicide--for the same reason.

It only sounds crazy because it is.  For those who may be reading this who haven't heard me say this a thousand times already: The Center for Disease Control, Albert Einstien University, and Department of Suicidology have researched the possible connections between roleplaying and suicide, and found nothing. 

Heresay makes for lousy journalism, Mr. Koelher.  It's always best to get a good, solid source.  But then again, you're not doing anything differently from a reporter for a real magazine or newspaper.

*Dave and Stan might not understand, but God does*, I told myself.
Then, I stood over the can and ripped every page into microscopic
particles.  I didn't want to give myself a chance to change my
stupid mind.

For someone to refer to themselves as "stupid" indicates a possible self-esteem problem... which could answer a lot more questions than blaming a game for your feelings.

I went back to my room, feeling kind of queasy from the withdrawals.
But I knew I'd done the right thing.  God told me so, way down deep.

Withdrawals?  Role-playing withdrawal?  I've head it joked about, but never mentioned seriously.

[SIDEBAR-ONE]
HOW TO DETECT DRAGONBREATH
Unsure about a particular fantasy game?  Then sniff around and ask
yourself some hard questions.  (If the answer to any of these is
yes, then LEAVE IT ON THE SHELF!)
    @  Are you asked to cast spells, use witchcraft or align
yourself with evil spirits and New Age-believing "heroes" who have
supernatural powers?

It has been mentioned an enormous amount of times before, but bears repeating: NO RPG involves the actual casting of "real" spells or rituals.   In most cases, and especially in the case of Dungeons & Dragons, there are "fantasy" type spells, like Fireballs and Teleports, that are used as tools to accomplish a task.  However, these are described in game terms, and nothing more.   Just as you cannot learn blacksmithing, horseback riding, or swordsmanship from playing D&D, you cannot learn how to cast "real" spells.

    @  Does the game make you dwell on evil things instead of good
(see Philippians 4:8)?

This applies about as well as the violence issue... if you're dwelling on evil things, it's because of a personal problem, not because of a game.

    @  Is the game filled with violence, killing and "buckets of
blood"?
    @  Are characters blown away as casually as you'd buy a stick of
gum, leaving players with the impression that life isn't worth much?

See the Evil Levitating Pincushion Queen story, above.

    @  Will the game tend to take too much time away from other,
more important activities?

In the same way that playing sports, watching sports, watching television, shopping at the mall, or building toothpick suspension bridges will?   Hobbies are a "pasttime"... sometimes they pass more time than they should.  That doesn't make any of them a sinister pursuit.

[SIDEBAR-TWO]
AWESOME ALTERNATIVES
Keep in mind that not all fantasy-type games, books or videos are
harmful. Stop by your local Christian bookstore and take a peek at
some of these cool resources.

Here is where we find the collection of "acceptable" alternatives, all written by Christian authors, of course.

    @  THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (a seven-book series) by C.S. Lewis.
    @  DRAGONRAID--an intricate adventure game (previously available
from *Breakaway*) that helps you memorize Scripture and learn to
engage in spiritual battle.

Dragonraid was recently forced off of the market as the result of several Christian groups who found it to be too "New Age" for their liking.  Author Dick Wulf posted the game for free on the internet for a short time, in an attempt to promote the game and sell what copies he had left.  It will be very difficult to find it on a store shelf anywhere.

Oh... and it has combat in it.  No fooling.

    @  DRAGON KING TRILOGY (a three-book series) by Stephen Lawhead.
    @  the videos THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE, PRINCE CASPIAN
and THE SILVER CHAIR, from Vestron Video, based on the books by C.S.
Lewis

Koehler leaves out a couple of fantasy works by Christian authors that are very popular... perhaps you've heard of them:

- a fellow known as J.R.R. Tolkien, who was a Christian and based many of his latter works on the Christian value system.  He was the author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, both of which did much to found the way that fantasy literature is written today.

- a born-again Christian who goes by the name David Arneson, who co-created a role-playing game called... brace yourself... Dungeons & Dragons!

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

In closing, I want to reiterate two points:

1. RPGs are what you make them.  If someone with a copy of Dragonraid decided it would be a lot cooler to play the devils and demons, it wouldn't make the game evil.  As the programming adage goes: Garbage In, Garbage Out.

2. RPGs require much in the way of imagination, intelligence, responsibility, and maturity.  Persons lacking in any of these areas will obtain results similar to those found by Koehler and his friends.  The violent manner in which they played shows a lack of imagination; playing obssessively for 25 hours straight shows a lack of responsibility (and possibly intelligence), and Koehler's attempt to blame a game for his own personal problems shows a lack of maturity.

Role-playing is not a hobby for everyone.  It is easily abused, misused, and misunderstood by many people (which is why we have this article, supplied to us graciously by Focus On The Family).  In the long run, it only hurts the people who enjoy the hobby, and just want to play a game.

William J. Walton, April 2nd, 1999.